A speech delivered to the House of Lords as part of a debate on the ongoing situation in Ukraine.
Watch the speech being given in parliament.
My thanks to Lord Coaker for securing this debate. It is a sad truth that as wars go on, public attention often dissipates. So I am grateful to other noble lords for reminding us of the fact that while coverage of the war in Ukraine has waned, daily suffering there has not, and so our moral responsibility continues.
While others have focused on this responsibility in terms of military support, I would like to take the opportunity to reflect on another important and positive aspect of our response to the war, in the hope the new government might build on its successes.
As noble lords will be aware, the Ukraine Family Scheme and the Ukraine Sponsorship Scheme, set up in March 2022, were two of the only legal routes for people seeking asylum in the UK. Over 200,000 visas were issued to Ukrainians and thousands of families, from across the political spectrum, offered their homes to those fleeing the war.
So heated and polarised has the debate about asylum become in the intervening years that it is worth remembering how generously the public responded to the Homes for Ukraine Scheme. Polling from March 2023 found that 71 per cent of Britons believed that the fact that the UK had taken in, by that time, more than 150,000 Ukrainian refugees was a good thing. Only 16% disagreed. In research by More in Common, the majority of host families also reported positive experiences – nearly 9 in 10 said they were glad they took part in the scheme.
And not only did most hosts say they would be willing to continue accommodating refugees from the Ukraine, many also said they would be happy to host an Afghan refugee who would otherwise be living in a hotel.
As a result of this hospitality, many Ukrainians successfully integrated into British society. By April of this year, for example, around 70% of working-age Ukrainian refugees were in employment—a higher rate than typically seen in other refugee groups – and two thirds are fluent or can speak a fair amount of English.
Integration in this case did not mean assimilation. Ukrainian churches and cultural organisations held events and celebrations enabling refugees to maintain a connection to their homeland as well as build friendships and access social support.
Sofia, a young ambassador for the Children’s Commissioner who was 15 when the war broke out, said “I felt the incredible support from the British people when I arrived, and I am very grateful for it. I was very pleasantly surprised because the caring British people were able to unite the Ukrainians into one big local community who also came to England as refugees. Thanks to the British people, we were able to find both English and Ukrainian friends.”
This is an example of interculturalism – which is, in my view, the most promising way forward for a diverse Britain. Recognising and giving space for different cultural expressions such that we can all learn from one another and live well together, rather than in homogenous siloes.
This kind of integration does not happen by accident. Funding from local authorities, support from schools, universities and community groups all played a role. So did political rhetoric and editorial angles. Choosing to speak compassionately about Ukrainian refugees and focusing on the kindness of the families hosting them created the opportunity for refugees to discover how to be both Ukrainian and British. Which is to say: to begin healing from the trauma of war and displacement and to start building a new life which honours the old.
None of this is to imply the Homes for Ukraine scheme has been without challenges. But those are for another debate. Rather, it is to pose the question: why is this not the norm? If the major political parties and the general public see this as the right response to an outbreak of war, if we were able to both give people in desperate need a new start and benefit from their skills, why only Ukraine? Why not make this the model for a sustainable way of welcoming all refugees seeking sanctuary in the UK?
+Martyn Leicester